First post here. I have a 2005 rl that i have been very happy with. Until now.

Just wanted to know if anyone has had problems with their door handles shorting? After the car was parked in my garage for about half an hour i smelled a burnt plastic smell and noticed a strong stream of smoke coming from the driver side door handle and it burnt my hand a little ( had to get inside to pop the hood and disconnect the battery)

I've contacted acura of america and am taking it to the dealership tomorrow. Any recommendations on what else I should do. This seems like a pretty big deal as there is the possibility of this being a serious fire hazard. Are there any recall notices.

Any input/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

First time posting pics so hopefully this works

 

darn it. ok the pics didn't show up, so try the links





MOD EDIT (neuronbob): fixed pic links

 

wow, thats intense. i wonder if this is in anyway related to many peoples handles that stop functioning. We just have the driver side door handle replaced yesterday cause the locking dimple stopped working. i know many other people on this forum have had the same problem. i don't know of any recalls, but keep us posted on what you find out for corporate. Good luck.

 

Does anyone know if the tl has the same or similar door locking mechanism, as this may affect them as well.

Also, are there other acura sites that get lots of traffic. I'm trying to get as much input as possible.

Thanks

 

06TL does not have door sensors.

 

This is the RL section with the most traffic that I know of.

We do not have any other reports of this. Those pics look pretty impressive.

 

Impressive, but freaky!

 

Bet they fix it asap.

Still wouldnt make me not like my RL.

 

I'm pretty freaked out and don't feel like I can "trust the car completely now. Don't wanna wake up in the middle of the night somewhere down the road and find my car and house on fire. The handle was ridiculously hot! You can't tell from the pictures , but the brown spot is a bubble and sticks out a few millimeters. Here's another pic that show's the crack from the heat. I'll include the link since my pic posting abilities seem to suck ( I fail at the intraweb)



MOD EDIT (neuronbob): fixed pic link

 

I thought about this while I was correcting the links above. I call bad installation for a replacement door handle.

 

Thanks for fixing the pics. I was getting ready to ask someone to do it since I'm incompetent. The door handles have never been replaced so I don't think it could be that. Going to bed soon. Thanks to everyone for their responses. I will keep everyone updated when I hear from the dealership.

 

I take it you are the original owner, then.

Time to use your warranty! I am positive Acura will take care of you.

 

What is that dripping down from the door handle?

 

I've seen this a lot. NEVER this bad though, but I've had quite a few smoking handles come in. Usually though, fuse #7 (under dash) does it's job though and blows within 3 seconds of the handles starting to smoke. When this happens, you'll notice a lot of things stop working in your RL. Navi display is dark, keyless access system error message on MID, have to use the key to start the car (not the knob), gauges erratic at times, etc.

In the last few months alone, I've replaced at least four smoking handles, again though, I've never seen one burn like this.

There is no recall or bulletin for this problem, but there is a bulletin in general for the handles themselves not responding to your hand, etc, to lock or unlock.

They'll just replace the handle, and clean up the area with the residue it left (not sure how easy that will be though if it's melted plastic/rubber). That said, I've taken apart a few handles that smoked, after warranty didn't want them back. Everytime, it's the plastic electronic "sensor" inside the handle that always has the damage. In case you're wondering. If you really want, I saved one, and still have it at work. I can snap a pic or two to show what I mean.

So while I agree this may be unnerving, the fix itself is quick and simple. Though I still question why fuse #7 didn't blow before things got this bad...

 

Yes, original owner. I'm not entirely sure what is running down the door. I thought it might be burnt plastic or paint that was liquefied due to the extreme heat, but it wiped away when it cooled down (as you can partially see in the third photo). It smelled horrible though. Washed my hands three times and it still smelled.

Not sure if any of the other electronics stopped working. I disconnected the battery and have kept it that way since.

Dropped it off at the dealership today, they didn't really say much. They gave me a loaner and said they would get to it on monday.

Acuratech239 If it's not too much trouble, would you mind posting pics. Also, what do you think the chances are that this will be covered under warranty I bought it in Nov 05 and it only has 30k miles (how long is the warranty on the rl)

Any guess as to what repair costs would be if I have to pay out of pocket.

Will keep everyone updated as I hear from the dealership.

And thanks again for the advice everyone.

 

Is this "hot handle" issue only limited to 05s?

 

2k5rl - I'll try and remember to bring home the piece on Monday so that I can snap a few pics of it and post them on here. The damage on the this part, which is inside the handle, is not crazy or anything. But you can clearly see where it shorted, heated up, and started to melt (smoke).

As for warranty, we've been pretty much covering handle replacement on all RLs, regardless of years/mileage. Unless you're over 100k miles or something. But you, even though you're an 05, are only at 30k as you said. Therefore, unless your dealership is really stingy, I would think that this will be a warranty item. Plus you can argue that it's not like this handle stopped working...it clearly heated up to the point where it melted.

Price wise, I actually don't know how much they cost, since we always replace them under warranty. I would think between 100-200, but that's honestly just a guess. Labor shouldn't be more then an hour, MAX. I can replace them in under 15 mins, since I've done so many.

Keep us posted!

woodek - I see this mainly on 05s. I can recall maybe one or two 06s? And nothing newer than that thus far.

 

THANKS acuratech, that's really helpful!

 

Quick update. Dealer claimed that they've never had issues with the door handles, and when asked about fuse #7 they didn't seem to know anything and would "look into it."

They're denying warranty coverage and cost is estimated in the 400-500 dollar range.

Any advice on how to handle this? I'm wondering if I should raise a stink, or handle this delicately in the hopes that they will cover it under warranty.

 

They denied warranty coverage? Eh? Never heard of door handle electrical problems? They obviously need to read Acurazine.

My advice: don't burn bridges. Handle gently, moving up the chain of command as required.

 

Sounds like my Dealer. They always claim not to know anything. I asked ny Service Advisor if he had read a certain Service Bulletin that discussed the headlight flicker. He said he had not. I'm thinking, gee why should a "Service Advisor" bother to read Bulletins about Service. He's not a Service Advisor, he's a Service Denier.

 

Pretty serious stuff here. I would handle calmly and move up the chain of command like bob said, calling the Acura Customer Service 800 number if need be.

It's the light in the door handle I would suspect. It must have not turned off and just stayed on for a while.

<--- Glad he doesn't have a garage for once.

 

Well the dealership called today and it appears that acura of america contacted them and seem pretty concerned. They want to keep the car for another couple of days and run a "thorough diagnostics."

They didn't say whether or not it was going to be covered or not, and still didn't know why fuse #7 didn't kick in or burn out, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

 

wow this is the first time I'm seeing this now. Scary.

 

Again, don't burn bridges and stay cool. If Acura Corporate is concerned, this will more than likely be covered. I'm quite sure Acura will take care of you.

 

burn their floor mats...quietly.

 

Neuronbob--- Yeah, I'm just waiting to see what AOA's response is. I haven't called them since Friday (before the dealership saw it). I was meaning to contact them today, but I lost the extension of whomever was taking care of me, and it seemed like they were keeping up to date through the dealership as well. Right now I'm pretty hopeful and much more relaxed since corporate is involved.

 

my locks have been freaking out the last couple of months, locking and unlocking repeatedly about 5-10 times before it finally stops. there's no rhyme or reason to it and i cant duplicate it on demand which sucks. i saw it as a known 'quirk' in the pinned thread but i didnt see if there was an actual fix for the problem (besides replacing handles). after seeing this picture i booked service with the dealer. anyone have any advice on this problem? if it is the handles, will i likely have to pay for it? i'm still under 50k miles.

 

You should ask an attorney about this. Maybe you can get some kind of cash settlement.. for emotional distress. You say you always gotta check the car now, and can't get any sleep because you're constantly thinking about it which is effecting your family life and at your job.

Worth a shot, right? I mean the thing could of blown up if you didn't catch it.

 

Your problem should be covered by warranty as well. Your problem is either battery related or is related directly to the switches. A similar problem happened to my RL last month--my trunk release started firing off repeatedly and it drained two batteries dry. I took it to my dealer and after a week of troubleshooting, they finally replaced the trunk release button and circuitry, and all is good now. I just had a thread on the issue.

I'd get it fixed, seeing the pictures above.

 

It's late. Very late. Just wanted to thank every one for their responses and advice. My other car is an Audi and I frequently browse audiworld.com. Just wanted to thank everyone for their responses and advice. It's genuinely nice to see a healthy, helpful forum where the community is supportive and concerned about other users/owners. Thank you! Thank you Thank you!. Time to get my drunk a$$ to bed.

 

I am sure Acura will take care of this.

 

Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to get these pictures up for you







The burn/melt mark is clearly visible. This came from a handle that smoked a decent amount, and would be very hot to the touch (painful). Again though, this one was not anywhere near as bad as the OP's. Nor have I ever actually seen one that bad.

To the OP. I think your dealership may be giving you the run around about never seeing something like this. BUT, the only thing I can think of in their defense is if any had come in, fuse #7 was blown by then, so there would be no smoke. And since most don't have any visual damage, they wouldn't know. But since they deny even knowing anything about fuse #7 ever blowing, they can't really claim this defense.

It's this type of stuff that gives some Acura dealers a bad name, and it's sad to see. We can't please everyone, but we can at least try.

To be honest with you, and I seldom say this, I think you should print all this out, including my comments, and show it to them. Will it do anything? Probably not. But it shows that you, and many others, are aware of all this. And if another Acura tech (myself) has seen this a few times, then it can't be "unheard of".

Please continue to keep us posted. Too bad (I'm assuming) you don't live in my area. I'de do the repair for $20 (or a case of beer) and get you the parts at cost...(something else I also never offer, so everyone else, don't bother asking!)

 

Damn, I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday driving back and forth between F&M and the Fairfield Marriott attending NCAA Conference Swimming Finals. Was that your dealership on the Manheim Pike I passed 4 or more times a day!

 

Thanks for that follow-up and picture, Acuratech. The location of the burn mark on the component seems to correspond exactly with the melt spot on the door handle at the start of this post.

 

Thanks, acuratech, you are the man.

 

Thanks Acuratech for the pics and offer to fix it. Technicians like yourself give me hop that there are honest, competent dealerships and technicians that truly care for their customers. You are a true asset to your dealership and Acura of America. Acura of America has gotten involved, and appears to be watching this case rather closely. They claimed that this would absolutely be covered under warranty since I was such a "loyal customer" (I have no idea what they meant by this) and apologised for the inconvenience. The car is still being inspected for what caused this defect. Will keep everyone updated when I hear more. Thanks again everyone for the advice/comments, especially you Acuratech!!!

 

Chas2 - Yes, that was my dealership, Jones Acura Too bad we didn't know this before, I could have showed what (little) Lancaster has to offer in the night life, lol. Beats the hotel bar (although you were doing in a swimming competition, guessing you weren't looking to drink!)

And I'm glad that I could be of help to everyone else. I usually stay in the TL forums, but I may have to peek my head in here more often. I really hope they end up helping you out 2k5rl, though it sounds like you still don't have your car back, so that's a bit of an annoyance for you. If they don't help you out, let me know. We can arrange something, on the parts side, since the labor aspect is out! And I'm glad that you trust that there are at least some dealerships (stealerships) and techs out there that still care. So for everyone, you know where I work, if you need an honest tech and dealership, let me know

Have a good weekend everyone!

 

I'm having this problem now, so how much did this cost? I'm so stressed over it.

 

The simpliest way to fix this is disconnecting door handle plug from wire harness and replacing the fuse #7. All your systems will work (except keyless access from disconnected handle).

Other way is replacing the handle, 200-300$.